Deaf and disabled aid worker jailed in India.

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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This is a truly shocking story of inhumanity. A deaf and disabled aid worker jailed in India on trumped up drug charges. Despite his disabilty the Indian’s are making him live in appalling and inhumane conditions.

http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=80009

Deaf aid worker appeals over drug sentence

A charity worker feted in India for setting up a foundation for the deaf is to appeal against a 10-year jail term for drug possession.

** Stillman is also deaf and has an artificial leg but he has been forced to sleep on a concrete floor in cramped conditions and his family say his health is deteriorating.**

He was sentenced earlier this month after being arrested last year with a 20 kilogram bag of cannabis in the foothills of the Himalayas at Manali, a popular staging post for mountain trekkers.

His taxi was stopped at a roadblock after visiting a friend and police claimed to have found the cannabis in the car. Mr Stillman said he had never seen it before.

In 1978 Mr Stillman, originally from Reading, Berkshire, set up the Nambikkai Foundation, which provides training, employment and education for deaf people in India. He is also an adviser to the Indian government on deaf issues.

His brother-in-law, Jerry Dugdale, said Mr Stillman’s trial was unjust and he should be freed. “We make this submission in the light of Ian’s international reputation and his sacrifice for the deaf of India, of whom he is one,” he said.

Stephen Jakobi, of campaign group Fair Trials Abroad, said: This a man who is known around the world for his work and it is unbelievable what has happened to him."

[This message has been edited by Malik73 (edited June 28, 2001).]

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  • [quote] Originally posted by Malik73:*

Stephen Jakobi, of campaign group Fair Trials Abroad, said: "This a man who is known around the world for his work and it is unbelievable what has happened to him."
[/quote]

This is an awful thing to happen to anyone :-( That cannabis in the taxi might have been planted by any malicious person..
Stillman worked for two decades helping deaf individuals in India. I hope this poor man's sentence is successfully appealed and quickly overturned; it's an awful thing to happen to anyone.

western desis vs eastern desis
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Yes, this a truly tragic case. I have watched news programmes on this and it shows the poor man huddled in a cell with 10's of other inmates, and denied basic necessities. He was denied an interpretor eeven though the trial was all in Hindi, and denied proper legal representation. There is very little doubt that he was framed, or was certainly unaware of what happened when he sat in that taxi. A cruel case.

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  • [quote] Originally posted by Malik73:*

I have watched news programmes on this and it shows the poor man huddled in a cell with 10's of other inmates, and denied basic necessities. He was denied an interpretor eeven though the trial was all in Hindi, and denied proper legal representation.
[/quote]

For those accused of any crimes, legal representation should always be a basic right and not a privilege. My knowledge of judicial matters is extremely limited, but to be denied access to an interpreter when the accused's mother tongue is different than the one used during trial, also appears to be rather unjust.

This is a terrible thing to happen to anyone, but especially to someone who has unselfishly devoted so much of his life towards helping others - I feel immensely sorry for this poor man. If it was a taxi that he was sitting in, surely there's the possibility that the cannabis might have been left there (accidentally or otherwise) by a previous passenger.. Whatever the truth may be, Stillman at least deserves a trial which is fair.

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Nadia, here is more on the inhumane treatment of Mr Stillman by the Indians. It beggers belief why a man with his disablities is being treated this way.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1411000/1411499.stm

Deaf Briton’s jail isolation

Disabled British man Ian Stillman, who was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison in India for possessing cannabis, has spoken for the first time about the difficulties he is facing.

Mr Stillman is profoundly deaf and has an artificial leg, and for more than 25 years has been living in India working to help the deaf community.

As well as protesting his innocence, he is also highlighting the difficulties he has faced in the legal system as a deaf person.

Mr Stillman faces the daunting prospect of spending the next 10 years behind bars, in Kanda Jail in Shimla.

The prison has no facilities for the disabled - so Mr Stillman is spending 20 hours a day in his small concrete cell, sleeping, reading and writing letters.

He says his biggest problem is the isolation caused by his deafness.

“There’s no one I can really communicate with so I’m limited to using pen and paper at the moment,” he said.

“I’m very limited in my movement. I have asked for a wheelchair so I can be more mobile so I’m waiting for a reply from the authorities.”

He was arrested by police last August and accused of possessing 20 kg of cannabis, which he said was not his. The arrest took place at night.

In the darkness, he says, he could not lip read. He says he was also refused a sign interpreter at his trial and found his deafness a major obstacle in the proceedings.

“Because of the lack of communication, I was not able to express what I wanted to say. Even with my advocates I had difficulty in communicating with them,” he said.

Model prison

Mr Stillman is English but has made his life in India, working for the deaf. He founded a charity which for the last 23 years has provided training, employment and education for the deaf community.

His main concern, he says, is the lack of support for the deaf here, especially in public life.

“It’s the lack of sign language and interpreters separate for deaf people in India. This has been a big concern for deaf people for a long time but nothing seems to be happening seriously about it.”

Kanda is described as one of India’s model prisons, opened just a few years ago - but in the relentless monsoon rain, it is still a gloomy, colourless place.

Mr Stillman’s lawyers are now taking his case to appeal.

In the meantime, the publicity surrounding his case has also highlighted the difficulties faced by many deaf and disabled people struggling to cope in a world still catering exclusively for the able-bodied.

[This message has been edited by Malik73 (edited July 01, 2001).]